Combined rail chair and anticreeper



Jan.19,1937. HILL 2,068,055L

' COMBINED RAIL CHAIR AND ANTICREEPER Filed July 11; 1932 2 ShetS-Sheet 1 Jan. 19, 1937. R. HILL. 68,055

' COMBINED RAIL CHAIR AND ANTICREEPER Filed July 11, 1952 2 sheets sheet 2 Patented Jan. 19, 1937 UNITED STATES OFFICE COMBINED RAIL CHAIR AND ANTI- CREEPER bec, Canada Application July 11, 1932, Serial No. 621,933

6 Claims.

This invention relates to combined rail chairs and anti-creepers, and the present application is along the line of my United States Patent No. 1,962,507, June 12, 1934.

An object of the invention is to provide a combined rail chair and anti-creeper including a rail clamping member co-operative with the chair, adapted for vertical or wave motion with a rail in the chair while effectively resisting longitudinal movement or creeping of such rail under traflic pressure, and spring locking means on said member resiliently limiting such vertical movement and drivable with the clamping member to vertically movable locked position relative to the rail and the chair.

Another object is to provide a device of this description that can bemanufactured and placed in commercial use at a considerable reduction in cost over anything heretofore known of or used.

I amaware that rail chairs, rail fasteners and anti-creepers for rails have been provided, the anti-creeper being usually independent of and a separate device from the chair or fastener thus entailing extra labour and increased cost for installation. Furthermore these devices, as heretofore used, were adapted to rigidly retain the rail and this resulted, in operation, in the churning of the tie or support for the rail in the roadbed. Again, some of these devices were springactuated engaging with the top of the rail base but they invariably soon became inefficient through failure or neutralization of the spring effect.

To overcome these defects, multiplication of parts, and to materially reduce expenditure, while providing for greater efficiency, I have combined with the rail chair a self-locking rail clamping member. In this way, I dispense with a separate locking key as disclosed in my aforementioned pending applications. This member when locked is in vertically movable position relative to the chair and the rail therein to provide for vertical movement of the rail while being locked against longitudinal or creeping movement of the rail,

creeper member co-operative with the tie plate and provided with means adapted to lock said member in such manner as to permit spring vertical movement thereof with the rail, under trafiic pressure, while fixedly resisting longitudinal poses only, and in which like numerals of refer- I once indicate corresponding parts in each figure:

Figure 1 is an end view partly in section of the combined rail chair and anti-creeper with a rail seated therein and the clamping member in locked position relative thereto. a

Figure 2 is a top plan view of Fig. 1.

Figure 3 is a, perspective detail of the clamping member without the locking means.

Figure 4 is an end view partly in section showing a modified form of the locking means for the clamping member.

Figure 5 is a top plan view of Fig. 4.

Figure 6 is a perspective detail of a modified form of the locking means for the clamping member.

Referring more particularly to the drawings and to Figures 1 to 3 inclusive, A designates a rail or tie-plate as a whole and B a section of a rail seated therein. The member A is formed from a rolled plate, malleable iron, steel castings or other suitable materials and has integral therewith the permanent transversely extending spaced walls Ill and I I, outwardly hooked or bent at the top, as at IE, to provide in one side a guideway I3, and adapted on the other side to abut the base l5, of the rail B, as at l6. Substantially midway across the plate A, and extending through the walls are openings I1. These openings extend inwardly into the seat portion Fla, and outwardly beyond the walls [0 and II.

Co-operative with the openings I! in the plate A, and adapted for clamping engagement with the top and underside of the rail base I5, is the selflocking member C, which forms an essential feature of the device. This member is stamped, hatched at each end as at M, and is then bent upon itself to form the upper and lower jaws or arm portions l8 and ill, the outer face being curved as at 2|, and the inner face curved as at 22, while the hatched free ends are spaced apart to engage with and when driven, in the openings l I, progressively grip the top and underside of the rail-base l5 (see Figs. 1 and 3).

Co-operating with the member C and forming another very important and essential feature of the device, is the spring locking means, here shown in the form of a washer 23 loosely carried by said member to become inseparably locked therewith, whereby limited spring-actuated vertical movement of said member in clamping position relative to a rail in the chair is automatically provided for under the influence of traflic pressure and simultaneously,and also undertraffic pressure, creeping or longitudinal movement of such rail is positively resisted. This locking member 23, is bent upon itself as at 24, to form the upper and lower portions 25 and 26 having an opening 21 therein, with projections in the sides thereof 28 to engage with the member C. The lower portion 26 is curved as at 29 to rest on the tie plate at each end, while the upper portion extends slantwise also in engagement with the member C. In this way, when the member C is placed in the openings ll, the locking member 23 will be moved downwardly until the bottom portion rests on the tie plate- It is then, with the member C, driven home, inseparably locking therewith and locking said member in rail clamping position relative to the tie plate and a wall of the chair to permit spring vertical movement of the member C, locked with the member 23, synchronizing with the wave motion or vertical movement of the rail, under traflic pressure. This resilient vertical movement may be limited, as when the locking member 23 is driven in the guideway l3 of a wall of the chair, a space 29 is provided between said member and the top i2 of the wall for vertical movement of the member C with the rail according to the extent of this space.

Another feature is that the locking member practically eliminates, when locked with the member C, any rattle or noise in operation. Furthermore, when once looked with the member C, the locking means 23 practically become integral therewith and is inseparable therefrom except by being broken.

It should be here noted that the member C, being drivable for progressive engagement with the rail base and the double spring washer interlocking therewith, ensures stability and uniform continuity of its rail-retaining anti-creeping functions for an indefinite period. In short, the grip of this drivable clamping member C, in the openings I! of the tie plate is tightened relative to the rail when driven, while the washer 23 thereon is locked with said member when driven.

In the modified form of the locking member 23 as illustrated in Figs. 4, 5, and 6, it is made of a solid piece and is otherwise of similar construction to this member 23.

In operation the tie plate A, having been secured in any well known manner in the road-bed, one of the members C equipped with the washer 23 is placed in one of the openings H, and the rail section B is then seated between the walls i 0 and I I, the member C engaging with the top and bottom of the rail base I6. The second member C, also equipped with the washer 23, is then placed in the openings I? on the other side and engages with the top and bottom of the rail base i6. These members and the washers 23, are then driven home to clamp the top and bottom of the rail base and to interlock with One a o h and with the walls In and H, in such manner as to provide limited resilient vertical movement of the rail, under trafiic pressure, but at the same time positively resisting longitudinal or creeping movement of the rail.

It will also be appreciated that when traffic pressure ceases, wave or vertical movement of the rail ceases and the members C now inseparably locked with the washers 23, automatically assume their normal position in the openings II. This construction provides for resilient vertical movement of the rail and the rail clamping anticreeper member.

It will also be appreciated that a railroad equipped with my improved device will provide for uniformity of smothness and greater comfort in travel thereon. Furthermore, the shock-absorbing results and the elimination of churning of the supports for the tie plate obtained, as well as creeping of the rails, will still further provide for comfort and greater eficiency as well as considerable saving in maintenance. In fact, the spring vertical movement of the rail clamping means provided for will to a greater extent perform the double functions of retaining the rail against creeping and providing a spring cushioned effect to take up and absorb the wave motion of the rail, and applicant believes that nothing of this kind has been thought of and developed by any one but himself, particularly a combination with the outwardly bent formation of the walls l0 and H adapted to abut the base of a rail seated therebetween while also providing means to engage with and lock the rail clamping members against creeping of the rail.

Various forms of the apparatus described will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art; it is, therefore, not intended that the present application should be limited to any particular form of construction; modifications may be made in the apparatus above described within the scope of the claims, without departing from the spirit or scope thereof.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a combined rail chair and anti-creeper and in combination, a tie plate having a transverse shoulder, and an opening through the shoulder extending into the tie plate, at each side of its rail bearing surface, an anti-creeper member in each of the tie plate openings, transversely drivable to grip the edge of the rail, and means inseparably associated with said member and drivable to interlock therewith and with the shoulder to resiliently retain the anti-creeper against relative vertical movement while rigidly gripping the rail.

2. In a device of the character described a tieplate having an outwardly hooked shoulder and an opening through the shoulder extending into the tie plate at each side of its rail-bearing surface, a rail-gripping member co-operative with each shoulder in each of the tie-plate openings, resilient means incorporated with and drivable with said member to simultaneously interlock therewith and engage with the shoulder to limit the vertical movement of the rail-gripping member under traffic loads.

3. A combined rail chair and anti-creeper comprising a tie-plate having an outwardly hooked shoulder and an opening through the shoulder extending into the tie plate at each side of its rail-bearing surface, a rail gripping member cooperative with each shoulder yieldingly arranged in each of the tie-plate openings, a verticalmovement limiting member co-operative with said member and drivable to interlock therewith in engagement with the shoulder to permit limited vertical movement thereof while resisting longitudinal movement of the rail under traflic load.

4. A combined rail chair and anti-creeper comprising a tie-plate having an outwardly hooked shoulder and an opening in the tie-plate extending through the shoulder at each side of its railbearing surface, a resilient anti-creeper member associated with each shoulder in each of the tieplate openings adapted to be driven to grip the top and underside of the rail base, resilient means inseparably associated with the anticreeper drivable therewith to resiliently interlock with the keeper and engage with the shoulder to limit vertical movement of the keeper under traffic stress.

5. The combination with a tie-plate formed with spaced outwardly hooked transverse walls and an opening in the tie-plate extending through each wall at each side of the rail-bearing surface of an anti-creeper member adapted for detachably yieldable engagement with each of the tieplate openings and gripping engagement with the rail, the anti-creeper member being provided with means adapted to engage with a wall and interlock with the anti-creeper member to limit vertical movement thereof under traffic stress.

6. In a device of the character described a tieplate having an outwardly hooked wall and an opening through the wall extending into the tie plate on each side of the rail-bearing surface, a spring clip member yieldingly mounted in each of the tie-plate openings co-operative with each wall, and a vertical movement limiting member loosely mounted on the anti-creeper and drivable therewith to inseparably interlock with the anticreeper while yieldingly interlocking with the shoulder to permit limited vertical movement of the anti-creeper under traffic stress while rigidly gripping the base flange of the rail against longitudinal movement thereof.

ROBERT HILL. 

